Honey, Why You Calling Me So Late
by CrAzYE
Summary: Willow receives a late night phonecall. NOTES: Song-fic. Think ya can tell by the title that the song belongs to Hinder. For those unaware, tis "Lips Of An Angel". Tis a one shot fic.


DEDICATIONS: For my crazy ass bro from across the ocean Electronis Zappa, Davidb5x, Daffyd and any of my other Wiffy fans (that I'm forgetting, memory full of holes ya see!) who deign themselves to read my Fuffy indulgences. This has been a long time coming boys. :D And of course, as with anything I do, to my heart and soul, Laina.

Willow was in her office in the early hours of the morning doing little more than staring at the laptop screen in front of her and thinking. It was the time of day when the big bad would roam the night. Once upon a time, Willow would have been one of the ones out taking out the big bad bad. Now, she spent most of her nights in the office working, or so she told Kennedy.

She was trying to put of going to bed as long as possible in the hopes Kennedy would be back from patrol and passed out so the witch wouldn't have to talk to the slayer. Things had certainly changed for the red-head.

The last few years had been hard on the witch and her slayer. The first thing Kennedy had done eight years ago when Sunnydale had become a great big old hole in the ground, was re-locate herself and Willow as far away from the rest of the Scoobs as possible.

Or more to the point, in Kennedy's mind, as far away from The original Chosen One. The younger woman had gotten it in her head in those last few months in Sunnydale that Willow was, and always had been, in love with Buffy.

Willow had always denied it to her girlfriend, but deep inside she knew Kennedy was right. She had chosen Kennedy though. Gone with the slayer when it would have been so easy to stay and love from a distance. Now that distance was a distance in miles and even bigger. And the redhead missed her best friend more than ever tonight.

She was tired of this life with Kennedy. The younger woman had turned out to be extremely possessive and dictatorial, especially after she got her powers. Willow, being quite stubborn, had stuck it out. She hadn't put up with Kennedy's behaviour though and the silences following their flared bouts of arguing had grown between them over the years.

There had been times, of course, over the previous years she had seen the other Scoobs. Few and far between, and usually it was a brewing MAJOR apocalypse. The kind where experience and power mattered and was absolutely needed. Kennedy never liked her going back, and said so often enough that Willow just didn't to save the arguments. Each of the four of five time she had gone back to help Kennedy had refused to speak to her for weeks after her return. Willow didn't know how many of her family's special occasions she'd missed over the years. Like Dawn's graduation from university or Xander actually making it down the aisle.

The redhead sighed and leant her head back on her leather office chair, closing her eyes. She lost herself to her memories as she visualized Buffy as she had seen her last. She felt the tears begin to run down her cheeks and she cried silently for all she had been stupid enough to walk away from. She never returned permanently, because after so long, she was terrified she wouldn't fit in as she once had.

Suddenly, the phone rang startling the witch from her reverie. She sat up and glanced up at the clock on the wall. Two a.m. Who would be calling at this time of night? It wouldn't be Kennedy, simply because the slayer refused to call Willow in to help with the slaying. Let alone, needing medical assistance after or anything at all for that matter.

She wiped the tears from her face and cleared her throat before picking the ringing phone up from the cradle.

"Hello?" Willow's voice came out softly and almost cracked mid-word from the emotion she was still feeling.

The sound of long distance pips met her ear and then a just as soft and emotional, "Willow." greeted her. The red-head would have known that voice anywhere.

"Buffy! Oh my goddess, is that really you?" The witch's face lit up with a smile as she asked the question quietly. Who knew where Kennedy was right now and Willow knew she would be less than pleased to know who was on the phone.

"Yes," Buffy said softly. "I've missed you, Will."

From the tone in her voice, Willow thought the other woman sounded like she, too, had been crying. She turned her seat to face the window behind her desk, hoping to muffle the conversation in case Kennedy happened to walk in.

"Buffy? Are you ok? You sound upset." Willow asked, concernedly still trying to keep her voice down. Thinking to herself, that if the slayer was crying things couldn't be good in Scooby-ville.

"No. I'm not ok Will. I-I miss you and I need you. And I need you to come home. To me."

At this, the witch could do little but let her jaw drop. She had nothing to say to this. After so many years... Willow shook her head. She had to be hearing things. Hallucinating.

"Willow? Are you there?" After long moments of the red head saying nothing at all Buffy was beginning to worry Willow had hung up on her.

"Yeah, I'm here." The redhead responded, even softer than she had been talking. She was having problems, it seemed, finding her voice. "Wanna run that past me again?"

"I love you and I miss you, Willow. I know you still love me and I know you're not happy with Kennedy. I could see that last time you were here. Sometimes it seems like I almost sense your love and your longing for me, even from so far away." The blonde paused a moment to catch her breath after rushing out the first part. "I'm sorry it took me so long to open my eyes and see what was in front of me and I've regretted letting you go for the last eight years. Please say you'll come home to me?"

Willow turned the chair back around to replace the cordless in the cradle and gasped when she saw Kennedy leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

"So the bitch finally had the balls to admit it and what? After eight years you're just gonna go running back? Is that all I mean to you?" The brunette glared across the room at Willow, daring her to tell her she was leaving her.

The witch so didn't want to argue about this now. She hadn't planned on telling Kennedy at all, but now the slayer had overheard everything it would seem there was little choice. As much as things were already bad between them she truly didn't want Kennedy to hate her. "Ken. You know things haven't been good between us for a long while. We barely even share the same bed anymore."

The brunette cut her off, shrugging. "Y'know what? I don't care, after all. I'm going out. If you're not here in when I get home, don't bother to come running back to me when it all blows up in your face and goes to hell. That bitch is bad luck for anybody near her."

Kennedy turned and walked away without another word, slamming the back  
door as she left.

Willow turned around one last time to look at the two-story residence that had been her home here with Kennedy in Mexico for the last eight years. She sighed momentarily, sorry things had ended the way they did with Kennedy, but so ecstatic she was going home to her heart after so long an absence. Then without another look back, she climbed into to the cab she had ordered and left for the eight am flight to Cleveland.

As Willow exited the plane, she started to panic as the nerves kicked in. She had been waiting for this forever, it seemed to her and what if's started to flood her mind. She then stopped and took a deep breath to calm herself. She definitely didn't want a repeat of the incident after her return from England all those years ago. Buffy wanted her here. She wouldn't have called otherwise.

After collecting her luggage, she turned and headed for the exits all the while looking around for the blonde who was coming to collect her. The witch was coming down the escalators when she caught sight of Buffy.

The redhead's breath caught and she could do little but stare as she devoured the sight of her love. The years had been kind to her, even with the stress of slaying and Willow swore Buffy looked more beautiful now than she ever had.

The waiting slayer must have felt Willow's eyes on her and looked up. Their eyes locked and without either of them having spoken a word, everything they felt passed between them like a heat wave and caused both of them to blush.

Willow stepped off the escalator to be whisked into the arms of a waiting slayer who couldn't seem to stop grinning.

"I'm so glad you came back." Buffy greeted her before slowly lowering her lips to Willow's, needing, wanting to greet the redhead properly. "I missed you." She whispered softly before claiming the other woman's lips in the most passionate kiss Willow had ever received.


End file.
